Tiny little bottles
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It usually starts with a tiny little bottle. My mom’s story did. She was traveling to California in a VW van in the ’70s when they stopped at a flea market in Texas (of all places). That’s where she found her first “tiny little bottles.” They were labeled essential oils—or at least the closest thing to real essential oils you could find back then. She started putting them in her massage oils, and that was it. She read everything she could get her hands on, started a school and wrote books. She mentored hundreds of students and helped create organizations to legitimize the field. She was a total pioneer. This was just the backdrop of my childhood. I didn’t know any different. Lavender went in the bath. 🛁 Peppermint in honey for a sore tummy. 🍯 By middle school, I already knew how to use oils for studying and focus. 🤓 In high school, I traveled to New York with a team of massage and aromatherapists after 9/11. This became an experience that changed the trajectory of my life forever. Then, I taught alongside my mom for a decade and mentored students myself. But these past five years—after my dad died, after the pandemic, as my mom stepped into retirement—I started wondering: what’s my relationship with aromatherapy? I never had that “tiny little bottle” moment. I was tiny myself when I first encountered essential oils. It’s like I’m the fish who doesn’t know what water is. What even is life without aromatics? And yet... I’ve been living it. Not totally disconnected, but not really immersed, either. Sure, I use oils in my massage blends. I use body oil daily. But I haven’t been in touch with many colleagues. I haven’t been keeping up with what’s new. There’s just... so much. I think I had this quiet, unspoken belief (very only-child of me): That it was all up to me. That if I couldn’t carry the whole thing, maybe I shouldn’t carry it at all. But something shifted this weekend at the Beyond Aromatics Conference. The opening talk was about being an aromatic medicine keeper. I realized that’s a role I couldn’t escape if I tried … and I don’t want to. I want to stay in this lineage and continue the work of our teachers and their teachers. I want to learn alongside others and not do it all myself. There are so many lineage holders now with so much collective wisdom to tap into. And I’m ready to keep going. So, Reader, if you're already working with oils—or are just aroma-curious—I’d love to know what you want to learn. What’s cloudy or confusing? What’re you hungry for? What do you wish someone would just walk you through? Here are some things I can share on easily:
Or surprise me. Hit reply and tell me what you're curious about. I’m here, recommitting so we can keep learning—together. In Joy,
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Nyssa Hanger
Life and Biz Coach. Massage Therapist. Aromatherapist. Teacher. Writer.
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